Clive apologizes – Did hundreds of Nigeria troops run away from the fight against Boko Haram? – Bears:  Beautiful to look, not so much when you’re trying not to be killed by one – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

MP Clive Palmer has sent a letter of apology to the Chinese Embassy in Canberra for his incredibly rude comments made on live TV referring to Chinese as “mongrels” who “shoot their own people”.  His tirade apparently is rooted in a A$500 Million dispute between his mining company Mineralogy and its Chinese state-owned partner, CITIC Pacific Mining.  China's ambassador to Australia has confirmed he has received a letter of apology from Clive Palmer, adding that the Chinese people are "never to be insulted".

Nigeria is denying reports that as many as 480 of its soldiers have fled over the border to Cameroon to escape fighting with the terrorist group Boko Haram.  Nigeria claims the men are conducting a “tactical maneuver”.  Last week, a group of soldiers refused to join the fight against Boko Haram until they are given weapons and vehicles up to the task.  Boko Haram now claims to have established an Islamic caliphate in the parts of northeastern Nigeria that it controls.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has finally visited the scene of the deadly landslide in Hiroshima, where 60 people are confirmed dead and 26 are still missing.  His absence had been criticized, as was his decision to continue a golf game the first time his was told of the disaster.  Five days ago, heavy rain loosened the hillsides at six spots, sending torrents of mud, boulders, and bamboos into houses and apartments built at the very edge of the western Japanese city.

Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej has endorsed the army chief and coup leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha as the country’s new prime minister.  Prayuth was the only candidate to stand, voted in by an appointed parliament of police and military leaders. 

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is creating a taskforce in response to the fresh Ebola outbreak in that African country, thousands of kilometers away from the much larger outbreak in West Africa.  UN and Congolese health officials say the outbreak killed 13 people since July in a remote village in Boende of Equateur Province.  But this Ebola strain is believed to be different from the one that’s been ravaging West Africa, infecting more than 2,600 and killing 1,427.

The Vatican has stripped the diplomatic immunity of its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic over accusations he sexually abused young boys.  The Polish-born Josef Wesolowski was an ambassador of the Holy See and had been ordained both as a priest and a bishop by Pope John Paul II.  But he was recalled from the DR after the accusations, found guilty under canon law, and defrocked.  Now, the Vatican is suggesting that Wesolowski could be extradited back to the Caribbean nation to face charges.

Italy is divided over what to do with a brown Bear that attacked and badly injured a mushroom picker in the northern Dolomites.  The man needed “40 or 50” stitches after the attack, but the bear left him alive.  Trentino provincial authorities intend to capture the 18-year old mother of two cubs – or kill the beast, if she attacks anyone else.  Animal Rights activists believe she should be left alone.  The bear was one of ten reintroduced to the Dolomites between 1999 and 2001, and local farmers say the bears are eating their livestock.  One Trentino official says if activists in the cities like the Bears so much, “we’ll bring the bears there, if they like.  And we'll see if they like it.”